Fred Armisen

Fred Armisen is one of the most diversely talented performers working today with credits that run the gamut from acting, producing, and writing in both comedy and music. He is an 11-season veteran of Saturday Night Live, and the co-creator, co-writer and co-star of the critically acclaimed show Portlandia, alongside Carrie Brownstein. His most recent venture is Documentary Now!, a curated series of half-hour documentaries and biopics, each about a completely fictitious subject. He also serves as the band leader of the 8G Band on Late Night with Seth Meyers.

As a cast member on Saturday Night Live, Armisen engaged audiences with memorable impressions and characters, including world leaders like President Barack Obama or Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the popular digital short "Iran So Far Away," to "Weekend Update" fixtures like political comedian Nicholas Fehn or half of the songwriting team of Garth and Kat (with Kristen Wiig), to name a few. He closed out his last season in the guise of British punk rocker Ian Rubbish with a star-studded performance of the original song "It's a Lovely Day."

For his work on Portlandia, Armisen received an Emmy nomination for "Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series" and a Writers Guild Award for "Outstanding Comedy/Variety Series," with other writers. Portlandia received the prestigious Peabody Award for excellence in 2011 and is currently in its seventh season.

Armisen recently teamed up with Lorne Michaels' Broadway Video, NBCUniversal Telemundo, and fellow SNL alum Horatio Sanz to create a digital comedy channel aimed at the English-speaking Hispanic audience called Mas Mejor. The channel launched in early January and includes a weekly short-form premium comedy series and other topical video and editorial content.

On the big screen, Armisen has appeared in numerous feature films including Zoolander 2, 7 Days in Hell, Baby Mama and Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, among many others. On the small screen, he has made guest appearances on popular shows including New Girl, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Modern Family, and 30 Rock.

Armisen's career began as a musician in the Chicago-based post-punk band Trenchmouth as well as playing with the Blue Man Group. His transition to comedy came with the 1998 underground short film Fred Armisen's Guide to Music and SXSW which followed him through the Austin, Texas "South by Southwest Music Festival" posing as a music journalist.